Six Foot Photos...

....can be found here.

Managing Recovery

Monday

Didn't do a whole lot yesterday, but spent 10 minutes on the exercise bike, and another 10 on the reclining bike at the gym, which helped with stiffness around the hips. Also went for a 2km walk through a hilly section of Gladesville on Monday evening, which helped a bit.

Tuesday
After two bites of the snooze button, managed to get up and accompany my partner down to Rotary Park. Felt particularly stiff early, but after three laps and a quick toilet stop actually felt okay, and started to push for a bit of pace later in the session to see how it felt. Also, for a bit of a change, I ran the last kilometre in bare feet - a bit different, but not as different as I was expecting, and I think the feet felt better for it. I might do cool downs in bare feet at Rotary in future. Managed 5.4km in a touch under 22m 30.

Managed about 241km for the month - given the recovery from our November Six Foot Track venture, and the disruption of my cold last week, I guess that's okay, but it would have been nice to get closer to 300km.

..and total thanks to Kev Tiller...

Important enough to warrant its own entry - major thanks and kudos to Kevin Tiller, who provided fantastic support to our Six Foot venture today, running around with his 'active' three kids in the family truckster, providing drinks and moral support through out the day.

A weekend of contrasts

A Coolrunners' 5km Challenge on Saturday morning, and a return bout with the Six Foot Track on Sunday. I'm nothing if not versatile...

Saturday - Happily Cruising
An astonishing turnout of well over 30 Coolrunners attacked the Bay Run 5km course. My 5km PB of 18:36 from very early in the year is decidedly soft, but considering I hadn't run since the SMC event on Sunday with a fairly bad cold, plus the prospect of a 45km trail run meant I wasn't planning to set records. Heck, I even forgot my watch.

I concentrated on a good even pace, maintaining form and stride length. I started with lonewolf, rounded him up at about the halfway point, and came in at 18:47. Certainly felt the top edge of my usual cardio was absent, but pretty happy with the run.

Sunday - Six Foot Strikes Back
Well, it's Sunday evening, at around 9:50pm. After a visit to Balmain Hospital, I've had a tetanus shot, and have two adhesive stitches on my right knee, plus a ripper graze just behind my right hip. Yup, took a tumble, not long after the stop at Deviation. Thinking back, I put my right heel on a rock that turned out to not be stable, which flicked my right leg left. I think I hit the ground with a combination of right knee and the heel of my gloved right hand, with a secondary strike on the right hip/buttock. Mister G, who was about 40-50 metres down the road, reported he heard a quite firm "Oh FUCK!" (emphasis on the F) and the unmistakeable sound of flesh on ground and then rocks making their way down the hill. Got a nice little cramp knot in my right calf for my trouble, too....

The run started out well, with Mister G, Sarge, Blue Dog, Phil and Dawn heading out at about 8 am. The day was warm, and we made pretty solid progress to Coxs, where Dawn and Phil had already skipped ahead. Sarge and Blue Dog headed back to Explorer's Tree, while Mister G and I headed on into the heat.

A little note for those carrying backpacks with bladders. If you take the Scholes blister packs, not only can they help with blisters, but they fix small leaks in plastic Platypus bladders a treat. I had to effect a makeshift repair at Coxs, and it still hasn't leaked.

We were at pretty good time at Pluvio, and were going okay to about 30-31km. I felt I was starting to wilt (something Mister G commented on at Deviation. We picked up Kevin at about 32km, Phil at the forestry section, and Dawn at Deviation. It would be rude to remind everyone that Dawn had been there for three quarters of an hour...

I made a bit of an error at Deviation, in that I took on too much sugar (I think the Coke and probably two too many snakes), and started feeling a little nauseous not long afterwards. I had the fall, and sent Dawn and Mister G on their way.

I wasn't too bad up until the Caves Road crossing, and continued to make my way, until (in typical fashion) I saw Kev's car head off for Jenolan Caves. From about this point on, I felt increasingly nauseous, and was playing a similar game to what I had at the Gold Coast Marathon in July, where you take on water to try and dilute the sugar in your stomach, but balance it so you don't feel that you're bloated and are definitely going to vomit.

I got past the 4km to go sign, and given that I knew what was ahead, and how hot it was, it was, to be frank, a pretty miserable period. I had given up any pretension of running at this point, and I knew I was in for a pretty uncomfortable half an hour. Problem was, the fastest way to get it over was to just shut up and get on with it.

I was also aware of soreness in the right calf, hip, both hamstrings. The downhill section was completely exposed to the sun, so it was friggin' hot. The footing seemed even more treacherous than when we ran it the previous month (how on earth did we run it?!?). It was a blessed relief to get to the made path near Carlotta's Arch, and make my way down the zig zag of the final path. I even managed to put in a bit of a token jog for the last hundred metres or so.

So, now I know what Six Foot is like when you blow up, it sucks, and it's hot. Thinking on it, whilst this seems a bit of a disaster, it isn't. We're 3 1/2 months from the race, I got another look at the course, I don't think I'm injured, and I know what happens when you fall and you blow up. I'll come back stronger from this experience.

I'm not too sore tonight (I think walking the steep downhill section helped in this regard), and impact injuries aside (which won't stop me running) I'm not too bad. I've got a massage booked on Wednesday.

I'll see how the recovery goes before committing to the Central Coast Half Marathon on Sunday. I was never going to really go after a time there, suggesting instead that I would try and tow Mister G and Johnny Dark through to sub 90 minutes, but knowing that Ray James is thinking the same thing takes a bit of pressure off.

I think the time today was around 6:40. I took a pile of photos, which I'll get to Coolrunning during the week.

....and today saw the last active duty of my Reebok Road Lites, with around 630 odd km on them. Man, Six Foot is hard on shoes - they're destroyed. I did my sub 3 hour at Canberra in them, so there's a bit of sentiment. A quick run through the washing machine, and they can follow the lawn mower around. A most noble retirement...

...and the break continues...

My cold is still hanging around, so I've been trying to maximise sleep, not running Monday or Tuesday, or again this morning. I may get out at lunchtime or this afternoon for a short 5km, depending on how I feel.

I've also had some pain in the shin splint area of my left leg. Doesn't seem so bad today, after running a self-massager over it last night.

I should be right to do Six Foot on Sunday - I'd like to think there's good base endurance there. I'll be booking a massage for Tuesday next week, though.

Malady Monday!

A cold!! A freakin' cold!

I'd felt a bit 'sinusy' on Sunday, but didn't think it had any effect on the run. I felt increasingly tired on Sunday afternoon. With my partner heading up to the Gold Coast Sunday afternoon, I took the opportunity to hit bed early (around 9:15pm).

I woke at 6:30, and felt like complete crap. I called in sick at work, and went back to bed until midday.

So, I didn't run today. I'll see how I feel in the morning - I'd really like to get out for a gentle 5km, just to turn the legs over.

Oh yeah...

Should probably mention my better half made her race debut, managing a slow, painful 10km - but she ground it out and finished! She now has a target, and has vowed to come back each month for the rest of the series. Fantastic!

Go to the Coolrunning gallery for photos of the morning's activities...

Shin splint Saturday, and the SMC Sunday Half

Now I know why I prefer to put up entries daily - it's a pain in the backside having to recall previous days...

Saturday
Wasn't feeling fantastic on Saturday morning. The hangover I'll cop the blame for (self inflicted wounds and all that), but getting out on to the road for a reasonably paced jog (4.8km in 22:36) revealed the return of an old "friend" I hadn't seen since July 2002 - shin splints.

I've been thinking on this - I have a suspicion I can get away with running in neutral shoes, but I need longer distance trainers that provide pronation support. The Reebok Road Lites, nearing 600km, are in the bottom of the shoe bin, awaiting a Six Foot Track hit-out next week that will probably be their swansong, and I've been doing long runs in Asics 1090s, which are nicely broken in now - but I think I need the support fairly regularly on longer runs.

I pottered over to Damien's (The Sydney Running Centre in Edgecliffe) and after trying on the Asics Nimbus (soggy) and Adidas Supernova (nice sole, hated the upper) ended up with the series 11 Kayano. Having started my running 'career' in Kayano VIIs, and sticking with the range until late last year when I abandoned my series IXs as I felt they had the motion control of blancmange. Looks like the control's much better, and the upper's much better. Shame about the white shoe with black trim and flourescent yellow highlights, though...

Sunday
Fire the Sube up, pick up Johnny Dark, and head to Smithfield. I had been planning to run in my series VIII DS Trainers, but given my thoughts (as above) and still feeling fairly stiff, I made a call to debut the Kayanos in a race. Plenty of tape on the feet, mind you...

Ran 85:05, which I guess 6 weeks ago I would have been rapt with. Got through 10k in 40:01, which was what I targetted, climbed the hill on the extension loop, came back down, settled down, got to the bus crossing, hit the accelerator, and....

...nothing....

Remember that scene in 'The Empire Strikes Back' when the Millenium Falcon clears the asteroid belt, and with a Star Destroyer right up their backside, they fire up the hyperdrive, and nothing happens except a feeble whining noise? That's pretty well the moment.

I was locked at 4:06 per km pace and I couldn't break out of it. I ground through to the 20km marker (losing my fourth spot in the process) and despite a stitch, flogged it home for the above time.

I started with shin splints, but they went away after 9km or so, so I think I'm on to something with my pronation theory. The new shoes took a little while to loosen up on the hard tarmac strethes of Wetherill Park, but were pretty well fine after 14-15km or so. Actually, the Kayanos were pretty good, even before taking into account they were literally straight out of the box.

I suspect, given that the slow-down occured after the climb, that there are still traces of the Six Foot training run still lingering in the system. We are of course out there again next week, so I've got the opportunity to bugger myself up for four weeks again.

I felt pretty strong on the climb, though, and suspect it is simply the 'endurance' side of the equation that is suffering a bit at the moment.

Friday off

Taking advantage of the air-conditiioner. we enjoyed a sound night's sleep whilst many in Sydney probably battled a sticky night. I had the alarm set early, but when it went off, made the call to take the day off. Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

A positive session

Well, the alarm went off at 5:30, I hit snooze, and on the second attempt we got out of bed. Didn't feel fantastic, feeling the effects of yesterday somewhat.

Still, we got down there, to find Leftie already cruising. We did an easy 3 lap warm up, Mister G appearing during the third lap.

So, down to business. Got through the session, running 400 metree repeats as follows:
73.72
78.45
77.49
77.38
77.65
78.64
78.52
76.00

Took a couple of reps to get the eye in, but otherwise I was pretty pleased with the consistency, and a good strong final rep (where Leftie casually cruised past me in the last 50 metres). Didn't feel too bad at the end, so to get through the session relatively comfortably at solid pace is certainly encouraging.

Short, slow and ugly

Dragged myself home for 10.03km in 53:16, a true recovery run. A classic humid Sydney evening didn't make it particularly pleasant, but I figure the more I train in these conditions, the better prepared I am for hot and cold. Still, the run sucked, and I was glad to get home.

There was a highlight - got a beep and a wave from a white Corolla heading city bound on Victoria Road, just before Gladesville Bridge. Another Coolrunner, no doubt! Brightened me up considerably.

Long, Steady, Ugly

Got out at 6am for my mid-week long run, which went from home, into the city (with a bit of a diversion through Drummoyne) via Victoria Road, a little loop through the Rocks, over the Harbour Bridge though Kirribilli, North Sydney, Crows Nest across to Artarmon and back to St Leonards for 21.85km in 1h49m38s.

It was pretty ordinary at the start - for the first 6km, I wouldn't have been surprised to see sparks coming out of my joints. Once I got the legs warmed up, I felt okay, but I seemed to be locked into a pace, and given the surprising humidity of the morning it proved just about impossible to break out of. I was at about 4:56 per km pace before I hit the climb out of Kirribilli.

Still, the miles are done. Just got to get myself home tonight, but that'll be fine.

Remember, kids, only 17 1/2 weeks until Six Foot Track...

See, a partner IS helpful!

Gotta be honest, if the other half hadn't sprung out of bed when the alarm went this morning, I wouldn't have gone, so yep, having someone else in the house wanting to run is a good thing. Rain had started at about 3:30am, waking me, and it felt like I'd only just got back to sleep when the alarm went

Having successfully negotiated the car to Rotary Field despite being half awake, I got through a 1.34km warm-up in about 5:45 (bit quick, methinks), managed 2.37km's worth of 15 minutes 30 secs on, 30 secs off (distance not including jogging the corners - it was about 8 1/2 laps, so probably around 3.7-3.8ks worth), and a 7 minute 1.36km warm down. There was a slight drizzle which gradually cleared as the session went on, and it was surprising humid.

A good hit-out, although it was struggle through the last four or five reps. Looks like I've covered more distance than before in this session, and was doing the jogging sections a bit more convincingly. Definitely feeling postive after this.

Uncle Dave and I surf the front of the 3 hour pace group at the GCM back in July - well, for me, for a little while anyway...

Sorry for the size, I'll get the hang of this one day - just not this day.

A missed (?) Monday

Didn't run today - decided to sleep in, meeting through lunch buggered up plans in the middle of the day, and when I got home I didn't feel like heading out again. I did cycle to and from work (25 mins and 9.5km each way) and did some weights at the gym, so it wasn't like I did nothing!

Legs felt pretty good today, best in a while, very pleasing after a good 30km yesterday. Tomorrow morning's 30/30 session at Rotary will bear out how my recovery is. I think I might be in for a quick one on Sunday at the SMC. I'll see how the speed sessions work out before I commit, but a sub 83 might be a good target.

Nice run, shame about the fall....

Got out this morning for the Harbourside Hike STaR, basically a series of loops around Sydney's lower North Shore taking in North Sydney, Cammeray, St Leonards, Lane Cove, Riverview, Longueville, Northwood and Greenwich, based around the Waverton Bowling Club. This was my first STaR since October 24 (nice to be missed!) and marked two weeks since the Six Foot Track training run, so I was keen to extend the legs a bit and get a feel for how my endurance was going in the context of recovery.

Managed 30.16km in 2h32m58s, with a good strong finish with a fellow named Tony - we broke away from the main group with about three km or so to go, and although feeling it a bit we put in some good pace to the finish. I do like to finish feeling fast, and we managed that today.

Managed my third tumble today, through the bush section at Riverview. Didn't go down fully, managing to hold myself up with my hands. Got a couple of scratches on my legs for my trouble (right knee, right shin about three inches above some scars, which are on top of some older scars, left knee) and cut my right hand up a bit - thumb pad and the webbing between the third finger and pinkie. I caught it and was able to keep going - came up a bit better than Blue Dog, who took a tumble coming out of St Leonards Park in North Sydney. Still, he was coming off the Portland Marathon, so he had a pretty reasonable excuse...

This makes for a 75km week, and 113km for the month. Would be nice to have more, but it's difficult planning for recovery from something you haven't done before. I've got a handle on what to expect after the November 28 venture to Six Foot now, and given the training should recover better anyway.

I got some guidance from Action on how best to run the 3 x 3km session. He commented that the sessions should be done evenly, at a couple of seconds quicker than 10km pace. Hmmmm, so based on a 38 minute 10k, that's 3:48 per km, so aim for 3:46. So that would be 3 repeats at 11:18....ouch....

Focus this week is the half marathon at the Sydney Marathon Clinic on Sunday...

Not quite there yet!

Thursday
Got up Thursday morning to head down to Rotary Field for our 400 metre repeats. Started out okay, and got through the first four comfortably sub 80 seconds (between 76 and 78). At the thre quarter point of the fifth, I had the fatigue I'd copped in last week's session come through again. I took a bit of a break and tried a sixth, same thing, so ran out a couple of easier laps and called it quits. Disappointing, but I got a few more reps in, so we're not far away.

Friday
Was planning to get up and knock out 5 or 10k, but failed to arise. There was a lot of other stuff going on as well, so the sleep was probably needed.

Saturday
Wandered down to the Bay Run a bit before 8, and knocked out 14k which included a 3 x 3km of:
- 12m 8s
- 11m 56s
- 11m 25s
I ran a 1km warm up, and 4km cool down. Good little session, came away quite pleased with that effort. I had a good comfortable rhythm going in the first rep and felt good, and it was pleasing to push through the next two sets. I'll keep this session and try to even the times up a bit.

Mmm....I don't think that's quite right

The wilds of St Leonards certainly do test the Garmin. It's difficult picking up a signal, and you do get the odd discrepancy. We got that tonight, with the distance reading 11.3km for a time of 51:59.
Typically, the run would be 10.5km. I did take a slight detour tonight, but I don't think it was 800 metres worth, 200 more likely. I ran okay, and pace of around 4:50 per km would sound about right. I didn't feel particularly flash towards the end, but ground it out, which is always pleasing.

So, double up successfully completed. Off to Rotary Park in the morning...

Back in the harness - and some ramblings...

Deliberately rested Monday (and had to catch the bus due to an early morning appointment in North Sydney), and missed Tuesday due to a couple of factors, specifically I couldn't get out of bed so missed my early session, took running kit to work to do a treadmill based speed session at lunch time, and then got called into an unexpected all day meeting at 8:30am which ruined any plans I had.

Oh well - probably not a bad thing, I guess...

Anyway, got up this morning and got out the door just after 6am. Managed 15.55km in 1h15m43s, running from home along Victoria Road to the city, through town, over the Harbour Bridge and up the Pacific Highway to work at St Leonards. Felt pretty good through the run once I'd warmed up, although probably still feeling it a bit on the uphills.

Certainly felt better for the break. Thinking on it, I'm actually pretty happy with the recovery so far, certainly feeling better than I have after any of the three marathons I've done, although obviously the intensity wasn't there. I think the ramp up in mileage in late September/early October probably helped, bringing some strength and endurance.

I'm certainly glad to be finding this things out in November rather than in January or February, which was pretty well the point when I put this plan together. I feel I'm building a considerable advantage over other first time Six Foot Track runners, having seen the course (and been over the big climbs twice) and knowing what to expect. Helps running with Spud and Mister G, too - there's a fair bit of experience there.

A pause for breath

Haven't had the opportunity to update for a couple of days.

Saturday
Last Striders' 10k for the year, at Lane Cove. Although still feeling the effects of the Six Foot Track run the previous Sunday, I decided that I'd try and go out for a big time anyway.

Warm up was pretty ordinary (generally a good sign!), and I was travelling reasonably until the climb to Lane Cove Road, where it became apparent my legs, particularly the lower legs, were still junked. It become increasingly painful, until at 6km I had to get out of the throttle with pain and tightness in the lower calves. I did consider pulling out, particularly after MPHaz (who ran a fantastic time today) and Action went past, but decided the quickest way down was to run it out.

Once over the hill just past Scribblys on the way home, I was able to stride out a bit more, and managed to beat my nemesis this year, Eliza Stewart, by a solitary second. 39:20 was the result - a bit disappointing, but I guess given a 6 day recover from the longest run both in terms of distance and time, to be expected.

Sunday
On Saturday night, I decided to let the alarm make the call of whether I was going to make the STaR or not - and I didn't. On reflection, I really needed the sleep, but I feel guilty not attending a training run that I could have run to, at Buffalo Creek Reserve.

Instead, I accompanied my partner on three very easy laps of the Gladesville Hospital, to tally up 3.34km in about 25 minutes. Her pace has improved since I last jogged with her, where I could hold pace with a brisk walk - now I need to jog. She seems to be on target for her 10k debut at the Sydney Marathon Clinic, which will be pleasing.

Monday
Today, I did nothing, nada, zilch. Legs feel better for it, but it's back to work tomorrow...

Oh yeah - here's the Garmin data for our Six Foot Training run on Sunday. 

Thursday Catch-Up

Yeah, been a bit naughty and haven't posted for two days.

Wednesday
Ran to work for 10.8km in 51:34. Still sore, but once I got up on the 'flat' of the Pacific Highway from Lane Cove to St Leonards I felt okay. An encouraging run

The evening was a slightly different story. I felt okay initially, but it was noticeable as I turned along Epping Road that my legs had gone numb, never a good sign. I continued along until I crossed Longueville Road, where because of traffic I had to walk - and distinctly had the wobbly boots on pretty well from there on. I eventually ground to a halt at the roundabout at Burns Bay Rd, and had to put a call into my partner to come get me. Today's message from my body was "I'm not repaired yet - back off".

Duly noted.

Thursday
Forced myself out of bed to head down to West Chatswood. Mister G would not be there, heading south as he was with Paul Every for some 'sightseeing', but there was a chance another runner might be, and I figured it would probably be a good idea to get down there anyway. Cruised through a warm up, ran a 75s 400 metres which felt kind of okay, ran a second and got the distinct feeling I was pushing my luck. I ran a casual 'push the straights, jog the corners' from there, just feeling out the legs, to manage 3k in roughly 13:30 or so.

Definite improvement over the last few days. I think the pool run helped, and brought matters to a head on Tuesday afternoon where I probably felt worst (fortunately dulled by a few Melbourne Cup beers at work). I'll get out tomorrow for 5 or 6km depending on how I feel, and hopefully should be right for a bit of a push for the last Strider 10km on Saturday.

Well, hope springs eternal, anyway...

Smashed Up and Sleeping In

Well, alarm went at 5:30, hit snooze once, alarm went again, and it became obvious I wasn't getting up. The sound of rain only sealed the deal.

Hobbling around, it's apparent that I'm pretty smashed up after Sunday. My legs got stiffer throughout Monday, although in a good sign they're probably about the same as they were late yesterday. I'll get down to the pool at the gym at lunchtime and do some water running, see if that helps.

A new month, and another week begins with recovery

Ah, the joy of the first week end of daylight saving. Hit the snooze button twice after the alarm first went at 5:30, and finally struggled out the door at about 5:55.

Feeling quite stiff and sore, I battled my way through 5.54km in 30:01. I started to loosen up a bit over the last 2km, but wandering around the house this morning, I'm certainly feeling yesterday's efforts. I'm confident getting out this morning will help, though.

I'm a little concerned about recovering for Saturday's 10k race at Lane Cove, but I figure that as long as I take the week reasonably easy I should be fine.